This invention relates to a pillow for a burial casket.
The current practice in forming a pillow for a casket has been to provide a fabric container that has a zipper that is about 7 inches long. The zipper is usually placed on the front edge or side of the container so that it is not visible during normal viewing. The zipper provides an opening for stuffing the fabric container with cotton or non-woven polyester Being at the front edge of the pillow, the zipper is rather inaccessible for reaching into the interior of the pillow once the deceased has been laid upon it in order to make final adjustment for the positioning of the head and shoulders of the deceased.
There has been a need for a pillow that has a greater capability for being easily adjusted from a smooth, unwrinkled condition suitable for casket selection to a condition for supporting the head and shoulders of the deceased in a natural attitude in the casket. Furthermore, there has been a need for making final adjustment for the position of the arms of the deceased, this having been accomplished by stuffing rolled-up cotton or newspapers under the elbows of the deceased.
Further, in the process of selecting a casket suitable for the deceased, the pillow must look attractive and unwrinkled and must feel soft to the touch of the person making the selection.
An objective of the present invention has been to provide a pillow that significantly responds to the need for adjustment of the support for those portions of the deceased's body that will be viewed so as to present the deceased in as attractive an attitude as possible. The head must be placed with the chin up as contrasted to resting against the neck. The arms must not sag down into the casket.
The objective of the present invention is attained by providing a pillow having a head block for support of the head and wedge-shaped shoulder blocks that are separable from the head block. Preferably, the wedge-shaped shoulder blocks are removable and adapted to be positioned under the elbows of the deceased to raise the arms into the desired position for viewing. The head block has a removable section which, when in place, provides a smooth, unwrinkled surface, but when removed, provides a recess for positioning the head so that the chin does not rest against the neck.
The head and shoulder blocks are preferably covered by a non-woven polyester pad which is about two inches thick. The pad has a concave lower surface into which the head and shoulder blocks nest. That assembly of blocks and pad is covered with an attractive fabric pillow case. The pillow case has a zipper at its top back edge adjacent the end wall of the casket. A cover flap is attached to the pillow case and overlies the zipper, concealing it from view.
The zipper permits the funeral director to reach into the pillow case to remove as many of the foam shoulder blocks as are necessary; for example, one for the support of each elbow, and to remove the section filling the recess into which the head is to be disposed.
The head and shoulder blocks are preferably polyurethane foam with the wedges being attached along their rear edges to the head block. A single wedge of polyurethane foam is then sliced with a hot wire to form selectively the removable sections.
The polyester pad provides a soft touch for the top of the pillow and provides assurance that the casket, when viewed in the selection room, will have a smooth, wrinkle-free pillow.